Device for changing wires on fourdrinier papermaking machine

ABSTRACT

1. An endless wire changing device for papermaking machines having a wire section, the device comprising a wire suction roll, a wire forward roll adjacent said wire suction roll, a wire extending over said rolls, a plurality of wire poles engaging and pressing said wire to cause said wire to form a loop, a movable wire changing carriage having means releasing said wire poles, parallel guides located within the region of said loop and supporting said wire poles, said wire poles sliding in said guides, a traction conveyor carrying said wire poles, means driving said traction conveyor in two directions and means extracting said wire poles.

M. K. NAUMANEN 3,843,469

DEVICE FOR CHANGING WIRES 0N FOURDRINIER PAPERMAKING MACHINE 2 Sheets- Sheet 1 Filed June 4, 1971 F 1 ca. 1 I

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Iuvemom N, K, A/czu m cane/7 dkmwa gw A-rTo RN e5 M. K. NAUMANEN Oct. 22, 1974 v DEVICE FOR CHANGING WIRES ON FOURDRINIER PAPERMAKING MACHINE Filed June 4, 1971 FIG.5

FIGS

United States Patent 3,843,469 DEVICE FOR CHANGING WIRES 0N FOUR- DRINIER PAPERMAKING MACHINE Mauri Kelevi Naumanen, .Iyvaskyla, Finland, assignor to Valmet 0y, Helsinki, Finland Continuation-impart of abandoned application Ser. No.

801,995, Feb. 25, 1960. This application June 4, 1971,

Ser. No. 149,987

Int. Cl. D21f 1/00 US. Cl. 162-273 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A papermaking or a cellulose-making machine has a wire loop extending around a wire suction roll and wire forward roll. The changing of wire takes place with the aid of wire poles which tautly stretch the wire loop into such a shape that various parts of the machine, including the breast roll, table rolls and suction boxes, which have been moved to one side of the machine and will normally operate within the wire loop, can be pushed back from u The present application is a continuation-in part of the copending patent application Ser. No. 801,995, filed Feb. 25, 1969, now abandoned.

This invention relates to a device used for changing the endless wire of a papermaking or cellulose-making machine.

Papermaking and cellulose-making machines have a wire loop extending around a wire suction roll and a wire forward roll. The changing of the wire takes place with wire poles which stretch taut the wire loop into such shape that various parts of the machine, such as breast roll, table rolls and suction boxes, which normally operate inside the wire loop but have been removed to one side of the machine, can be pushed from the side back into their operating positions. The device used for this purpose includes guides located on either side of the full wire breadth. The wire poles are moved along these guides and rest against them while the tautly stretched wire loop is being formed.

Due to the continuous increase in the wire breadth in papermaking and cellulose-making machines, the changing of the wire of a machine has become an increasingly difficult operation. The changing of the wire takes place during a rather prolonged shutdown and the duration of these shutdowns has the continuous tendency to increase since in machines of great width the wire poles are very heavy and their manipulation by hand is a heavy and cumbersome work.

An object of the present invention is to render the changing of these wires easier and faster.

Another object is the provision of mechanical power for the moving and positioning of wire poles, thereby eliminating a phase in the wire changing operation which heretofore required the greatest exertion of human force and was the most difficult part of the entire work.

Other objects of the present invention will become apparent in the course of the following specification.

In the accomplishment of the objectives of the present 3,843,469 Patented Oct. 22, 1974 invention it was found desirable to provide a motordriven reciprocally operable device having a flexible traction member resembling a cable conveyor in the vicinity of the guides, the device carrying at specific intervals attachments for the ends of the wire poles. The device pulls the wire poles which were attached to it at one end of the machine along the guides to specifically selected points which will be the final poistions of the poles.

In addition to the above stated advantages of eliminating manual labor, the construction of the present invention has the further advantage that it renders superfluous and eliminates the rope arrangement which was widely used in the past and which extended upon the ceiling above the machine.

The invention will appear more clearly from the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, showing, by way of example only, a preferred embodiment of the invention idea.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic side elevational view of a wire changing device of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. 1 but shows the device in a different position;

FIG. 3 is a top view of the device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a partial side view showing the wire as being fully extended;

FIG. 5 is a top view of the device of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a section along the line VIVI of FIG. 5 on an enlarged scale.

The drawings show a machine provided with a wire forward roll 1 and a wire suction roll 2, as well as a Wire changing carriage 3 moved to the end of the machine where these rolls are located. A wire loop 5 has been passed around these rolls by removing the spacer pieces on their frame brackets on one side. At the same time the parts operating within the wire loop 5, namely, the table rolls, suction bOXes, forming board, breast roll and part of the wire return rolls, have been moved in the usual manner to one side of the machine.

FIG. 1 shows the wire changing carriage 3 as having been moved into position at the end of the machine, while the wire poles 4 lie in the wire changing carriage in the space reserved for them. The wire has been arranged in connection with the wire changing carriage to encircle the wire forward roll 1 and the wire suction roll 2. On the other hand FIG. 2 shows the positions wherein the wire is fully extended with the wire poles disposed in their respective positions to keep the wire taut prior to replacing those parts of the machine which have been withdrawn from the loop. i

Parallel guides 7 are located on opposite sides of the full wire breadth. Poles 4 which were assembled upon a top horizontal section of the carriage 3 must be moved upon and along the guides 7 to stretch taut the wire 5, so that the machine can be placed into operating condition by pushing back into their operating locations inside the wire loop those parts which have been previously drawn to one side of the machine.

The top section of the carriage 3 carries a flap 9 Which may be swung into a horizontal position to release the wire poles 4 located upon the top section, so that the poles 4 may be directed to the location where the guides 7 begin. Close to each guide 7 a wire rope or similar traction member 6 is located which is provided with loops 8 or the like. The loops 8 are used to attach the ends of the poles 4 to the wire ropes 6. Thus the wire ropes 6 constitute a traction conveyor resembling a cable conveyor for moving the poles 4 along the guides 7. The loops 8 are so spaced from each other that the poles 4 are attached to them and when the traction conveyor 6 is moved forwardly, the location of the poles 4 upon the guides will provide the desired shape into which the wire loop 5 is 3 to be tautly stretched. As a rule, this makes it necessary to arrange the loops 8 at different distances from each other. The traction conveyor 6 is driven by a suitable electric or compressed air motor drive means 61) whereby its speed may be adjusted without steps.

The following is the description of a component unit in the device for changing wires, by the aid of which unit the wire poles 4 can be removed from their guides 7 after certain components of the paper machine, previously removed from their places in the machine, have been re-installed within the wire 5, which has been expanded to its full dimension on support of the wire poles 4. The tracttion conveyor 6 can be operated in both directions, whereby this traction conveyor 6 can be employed to collect all wire poles 4 :at a given point by operating the traction conveyor 6 in reverse. The traction conveyor 6 is operated by the reeling device 6a. The two devices constitute the chain conveyor. This eliminates the toilsome handling and lifting by hand of the wire poles also at the phase in which the wire poles are removed.

The wire poles can be collected at one spot, e.g. at the point 10, where a conventional roller conveyor has been provided, along which the wire poles can be extracted from within the machine.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the wire changing carriage 3 has been moved to encircle the wire forward roll 1 and wire suction roll 2 and the wire has been extended to its full length, supported by the wire poles 4 resting on the guides 7. Prior to extension of the wire 5, the wire poles 4 are located in their storage compartment in the upper part of the wire changing carriage 3, the bottom of this compartment being on substantially identical height with the guides 7, so that the wire poles can be transferred from storage onto the guides 7, without need to lift the wire poles 4 by hand. To this purpose, the storage compartment of the wire poles has flap-like elements 5', which have been shown in their horizontal position in FIGS. 4 and 5, in which position the wire poles 4 are free to roll from the place of storage onto the initial end of the guides 7, enabling e.g. the loops 8 of the traction conveyor 6 to be engaged with the end pins 4a of the wire poles 4.

When the wire changing operation has progressed to the phase in which the wire poles 4 supporting the wire 5 have to be removed, the traction conveyor 6 is operated in reverse for such periods of time that one wire pole at a time arrives in position over the removal aperture 10. When this has been accomplished, the loops 8 of the traction conveyor 6 are detached from the end pins 4a of the wire pole 4, whereupon follows removal of the wire pole in question from its support by the guides 7. Special devices have been provided in order to accomplish this, which devices consist of a beam 13 tr ansvers al to the paper machine, which beam is supported at both ends e.g. by legs 15, most appropriately resting on the floor of room housing the paper machine. To the middle part of said substantially horizontal beam 13 there have been turnably attached rolls 16, on the support of which the wire pole 4 may be lowered and extracted from within the machine into a special carriage (not shown) provided with wheels and serving as a site for collecting the wire poles, which carriage has been brought to be beside the machine opposite to the removal point 10.

To both above-mentioned legs 15 there have been attached between the vertical planes defined by the guide-s 7, substantially vertical power cylinders 12a and 121), which may be supplied with a pressure medium for the purpose of raising the pistons of cylinders 12a and 12b into their upper position from the lower position, shown in FIG. 6. The elements, such as pipes and valves including control equipment, for conducting the pressure medium are commonly known and have not been shown. On the upper ends of the pistons of both power cylinders 12a and 12b rolls 14 have been tunrably journaled, which rolls will be substantially horizontally aligned with the rolls 16 when the pistons are in the lower position shown in FIG. 6.

In this wire changing system, special wire poles 4 are used which are characterized in that end pins 4a can be inserted in the wire poles 4 with slide fit, so that these pins can be extracted from the wire poles. The slide tit has been made close enough to maintain the end pins 4a in desired inserted position by means of friction, but loose enough to enable the end pins 4a to be pushed and drawn by hand with reference to the wire pole 4.

The detailed action of these devices is as follows: When the wire pole has arrived at the removal point 10 and the pistons of the power cylinders 12a, 1217, together with their rolls, have been made to move in the direction of arrow A into their upper position, whereby the rolls 14 now support, from below, the wire pole 4 to be removed, which was heretofore supported by the guides 7, the end pins 4a of this wire pole 4, which heretofore were in their extended position, are pushed into the wire pole 4. Thus the ends of the end pins 4a will be located between the vertical planes defined by the guides 7, and the wire pole 4 can be lowered in the space between the guides 7 and brought out of contact with the guides 7. This is accomplished by lowering pistons of power cylinders 12a, 12b back into their lower position, whereby at the same time the wire pole 4, supported by rolls 14, will be lowered onto support by the roll conveyor which the rolls 14 and 16 and in combination constitute. In this position, the wire pole 4 is pulled by its end, along the roll conveyor 14, 16, out of the machine and into the carriage placed beside the machine.

The embodiment herein described and illustrated may be varied in many ways within the scope of the present invention. For example, the wire ropes 6 may be replaced by other ropes or by chain conveyors and their path may be different from that shown in the drawing. The essential feature of the present invention is the use of a flexible traction member arrangement for pulling the wire poles 4 into proper positions upon the guides 7. The guides 7 may be of any suitable simple design, for example, they may consist of tubing or metal rods of simple profile.

I claim:

1. An endless wire changing device for paperrnaking machines having a wire section, the device comprising a Wire suction roll, a wire forward roll adjacent said wire suction roll, a wire extending over said rolls, a plurality of wire poles engaging and pressing said wire to cause said wire to form a loop, a movable wire changing carriage having means releasing said wire poles, parallel guides located within the region of said loop and supporting said wire poles, said wire poles sliding in said guides, a traction conveyor carrying said wire poles, means driving said traction conveyor in two directions and means extracting said wire poles.

2. A device in accordance with claim 1, wherein said wire poles releasing means comprise a flap carried by said carriage and transferring the Wire poles upon said guides.

3. A device in accordance with claim 2, wherein said traction conveyor has a plurality of loops, said wire poles being suspended by their ends in said loops.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1935 Darby 162-200 2/1955 De Noyer 162273 US. Cl. X.R. 162 200 

1. An endless wire changing device for papermaking machines having a wire section, the device comprising a wire suction roll, a wire forward roll adjacent said wire suction roll, a wire extending over said rolls, a plurality of wire poles engaging and pressing said wire to cause said wire to form a loop, a movable wire changing carriage having means releasing said wire poles, parallel guides located within the region of said loop and supporting said wire poles, said wire poles sliding in said guides, a traction conveyor carrying said wire poles, means driving said traction conveyor in two directions and means extracting said wire poles. 